


Air

by WritingBiologi



Series: The Harmonious Four [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Air Nomad, Airbenders - Freeform, Airbending, Airbending & Airbenders, Eastern Air Temple, Gen, Nudism, Nudist, Nudity, Original Character(s), Public Nudity, air nomads - Freeform, naturism, naturist, non-sexual nudity, sky bison - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 01:31:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12354636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingBiologi/pseuds/WritingBiologi
Summary: Vessa is a carefree air nomad from the Eastern Air Temple. One day she is summoned by the Counsil of Elders to discuss certain matters which will set her on a journey.





	Air

**Author's Note:**

> I chose general audience because nudity in and off itself is not inherently sexual.
> 
> If there are any horrible grammatical errors please let me know, I am still learning.

Eyes closed she focused on her breathing; in, out, in out. She cleared her mind until nothing remained. She blocked the sound around her, creating a sphere of silence and emptiness. Her mind calmed and her body quieted. She neither felt nor heard nothing but her own breath. A giant piece of warm, wet flesh licked her naked skin from her hip to her bald crown, bursting her sphere of silence and emptiness. She opened her eyes and looked to her side.

“You believe I have meditated enough?” she asked and petted the sky bison’s muzzle.

The sky bison pushed a hollow ball to her and made a noise. “I see, you want to play fetch.”

She picked up the ball and airbended herself off the ground. She used her bending to circulate air through the ball, levitating it above the palm of her hand.

“Fetch!” she said as she air-blasted the ball off the edge of the mountain.

With a strong whip of its tail the sky bison took to the sky in a gush of wind, chasing the ball flying though the air. Vessa grabbed her staff, ran to the edge of the mountain, and jumped. As she descended, she unfolded the staff’s wings and in a gliding motion ascended and followed the sky bison. The air caressed her naked body and she could feel the different air currents move around her. She loved flying with her glider. For her, no other feeling could surpass the freedom of the sky. In the air everything seemed limitless, an endless horizon only coming to an end when touching ground. Despite having soared through the same mountains for years she somehow never grew tired of them, there were always something new to discover.

Vessa had caught up with the sky bison, returning with the ball in its mouth. She folded the wings of the staff and rotated it above her head, hovering in front of the bison. She wiggled her toes in between one of the balls apertures.

“Release,” she said to the sky bison, reluctant to let go of the ball.

After some tug-o-war, and nearly falling from the sky, the sky bison released the ball from its mouth. With the ball hanging from her toes, Vessa landed on the sky bison’s head.

“Good girl!” she said and hugged the sky bison, burrowing into its fur, “you want to go again?”

Vessa bended the air inside the ball and air-blasted it once again, with as much force as she could muster. The ball flew over the flat-topped mountain on which she had meditated, with direction towards the Air Temple. The sky bison took off with a quick burst and Vessa flew backwards, only preventing herself from falling off by grabbing fur tightly with her free hand. On rides like these she was thankful for not having any hair tossing about. She had seen how some of her sisters with long hair often had to remove it from their faces or arrange it in a specific style before taking to the sky.

As they neared the temple and the ball came into sight, still in the air descending in a curve towards the temple yard, it was evident to Vessa what would happen when the ball touched ground. The ball whooshed over the head of one of her younger sisters, crashed into the ground and bounced off of it into to the face of the nun leading the meditation circle. The sky bison landed and Vessa jumped off its head. She ran to the nun lying on her back and helped her up.

“I am so sorry,” Vessa said, “it was an accident.”

“I can imagine. But Vessa, this is the second time this has happened during meditation practise, how can the young once learn if they are interrupted?” the nun said.

“I know, but this time it _was_ an accident,” Vessa replied.

“The first time was not? In any case, should you not be practising tier twenty-five of airbending,” the nun said, handing the ball to Vessa, “you are behind some of your sisters.”

“I was meditating, but then Moomi—”

“Do not blame this on your sky bison,” the nun interrupted her, “the ball might be of some help.”

Vessa looked at the ball and before she could ask, the nun said: “You will figure it out.”

As Vessa jumped on her sky bison, she heard the nun call her younger sisters to resume their meditation circle. With a “yip yip” she took to the sky and returned to the site where she had meditated. She jumped of the sky bison and began bending the air in the ball, spinning it around with her as she moved. She wondered how a ball could aid her in mastering tier twenty-five. She did not see how it would be of any assistance. She started to question whether the nun had been genuine with what she had said.

_Was she messing with me?_

She tried to remember what her sisters had done. If only Vessa had paid more attention to her sisters when they were learning the tier, she would not have to trouble her mind with it now.

Vessa dumped on the ground and rolled the ball to the sky bison. The bison picked it up in its mouth and moved to give it to Vessa.

“Not now, girl,” Vessa said as she fell back on the ground with arms spread, looking up at the sky, “I have to figure this out.”

The bison nudged Vessa with its muzzle.

“I cannot play the flute either—I did not bring it with me.” She petted the bison’s muzzle and the bison lay down next to her.

Vessa looked at the bison and took a deep breath.

“I know I should be practising, but you may be on to something—a nap might be what I need to uncover the secrets of the tier.” Vessa closed her eyes and the world vanished in a soothing darkness.

The air changed around her. Small pressures pushed lightly against her naked skin like feet getting nearer, increasing with every step. A shadow surrounded her hiding the sun.

“Who dares disturb my slumber?” she said as she opened her eyes. One of her sisters stood next to her.

“The Council of Elders wishes to speak with you, Vessa,” her sister spoke.

Vessa sat up, “do you know what it might be about?”

“No, only that I were to fetch you,” the woman replied, “they seemed to want to talk to you in haste.”

Vessa stood up and brushed the grass off of her. She petted the sky bison gently between its eyes to wake it. The bison opened its eyes—yawned—and licked its muzzle. Vessa stretched to get her muscles working again after her nap. She jumped on the sky bison and said “yip yip”. The bison rolled on its side and began snoring once more. Vessa, clinging to the fur looked at her sister and sighed.

“This might take a while,” she said.

“I will inform the Council of Elders of you arrival—when possible,” her sister replied and left.

“Moomi, you have to wake up, the Council awaits me,” she said in a gentle voice trying to wake the bison. The sky bison remained on its side only moving its abdomen when breathing and snoring.

“You have to wake up!” she said with a more stern voice, “girl, come on, you can’t do this to me.”

She began pushing the sky bison, digging her heels into the ground, face turning red. The bison rolled over and Vessa lost her footing, slipped on the grass and landed on her back. She craned her neck back and looked at the bison with narrowed eyes. If the sky bison had decided to continue sleeping, there was but one thing left for Vessa to try in her efforts to wake the bison. She stood up and walked to the nearest apple tree. She plucked a few apples and walked back to the bison. She waved and apple in front of the sky bison’s nose. The bison wrinkled its muzzle as it breathed in the smell of apple. With eyes closed, the sky bison slowly extended it tongue out. Before it could get the apple, Vessa pulled the apple back.

“Oh no, I must have plucked too many apples, how am I ever going to eat all of them? If only there was someone who could help me,” she said and took a bit.

The sky bison opened its eyes and got on its feet. It opened its mouth and took a step closer to Vessa.

“Are you going to fly me back to the air temple?”

The sky bison grunted and moved its head. Vessa placed to apples in the bison’s mouth and jumped onto its head. A “yip yip” later and they took to the sky, heading for the Eastern Air Temple, to meet with the Council of Elders.

On the way to the temple Vessa tried to imagine what the Council might want to discuss with her so urgently they were not able to wait for her return in the evening. As far as she was aware, she had not done anything which might have upset them—though there was the pie incident a few days earlier. It could not be her nakedness either. She had walked around naked for as long as she could remember and only in the beginning had the nuns been apprehensive, but slowly surrendered when they found it impossible to force her into clothe.

She wrecked her brain and by the time the sky bison touched ground in the temple courtyard she had come no closer to a possible explanation. She jumped off the bison and petted it gently between its eyes. She took a deep breath and turned around ready to walk to the Council Chamber, as she felt a wet tongue licking her entire back. She looked back at the bison, smiled, and said “thanks, girl.”

She walked up the stairs, closing in on the Council Chamber. She walked slowly, heart pounding in her chest and limbs trembling slightly. She began performing breathing exercises to reclaim control over her mind and body. It had been many years since she had last experienced such nervousness to point of expressing physical symptoms. When she reached the door to the chamber she had regained some control over herself and drew a final deep breath before opening the door to the chamber. Before the door was fully opened she stuck her head in.

“You wanted to see me,” Vessa said as she looked at the five nuns resting on pillows in the lotus position with eyes closed.

“Yes, please do come in,” one of the nuns said without opening her eyes.

Vessa walked into the chamber and sat on the pillow in front of the Elders in the lotus position, waiting for the nuns to speak to her. Silence hung in the chamber for a few moments, wind breezing through the open windows behind the nuns, rustling single strands of their hair.

“Vessa,” one of the head nuns spoke, “we requested your presence to discuss a certain matter with you.”

“In the past four or so years your airbending training appears to have somewhat stagnated,” another head nun continued.

“And that is the essence of what we wish to discuss—you have fallen behind many of your sisters,” the first nun said.

Vessa was bewildered by the nuns’ statements—she did not feel like she was too far behind her sisters. She needed a few moments to collect her thoughts before replying, “Behind—in what way am I falling behind my peers?”

“Many of them received their tattoos years ago—” the nun began.

“But not all of them,” Vessa interjected before the nun completed her statement.

“And yet they are still ahead of you,” a third nun said, “you have eleven tier left to master and your peers—who have yet to complete their airbending training—are no more than four tiers away from receiving their tattoos.”

“Even so, I am by no means the oldest,” Vessa spoke “there have been nuns before me who—”

“We are aware of whom you are speaking,” one of the nuns said “Sangyal may not have received her tattoos until the age of seventy, however, there is still one key difference between the two of you—Sangyal struggled with airbending, yet despite her difficulties she never stopped training, she kept at it every day until her efforts were rewarded. You on the other hand, do not face the same impediments as she did—you are a skilled airbender, yet we feel you lack the necessary commitment to realise your potential and better yourself.”

In the early days of her training Vessa had progressed at the same rate as the rest of her sisters. As she grew older her progression slowed and she fell behind. Vessa could not remember the reason for why her training slowed, but until now she never thought her slow progression would have presented any issues—she did improve, though at her own pace.

“We have come to the decision that we have nothing more to teach you here, you will travel to the Western Air Temple to complete your training as an airbender,” the nun in the middle spoke.

Vessa’s eyes widened as she looked at the nun, trying to process her words. “But this is my home, I—”

“All Air Temples are your home and all airbenders are your family, do not forget that,” a nun said, “we are not sending you away, you will always have a place here—but your training cannot be completed at this temple. You will set out in three days.”

“You may leave.”

Vessa got on her feet and bowed for the Council of Elders and walked out of the door. She starred into thin air as she descended the stairs. At the foot of the stairs her sky bison walked over to her, but Vessa merely placed an absent minded hand on its muzzle as she walked past it—not giving it as much as a look.

When she closed the door to her room behind her, she looked at her hands. They were shaking heavily. Her heart pounded in her chest and her knees were weak. She leaned up against the wall next to the door and collapsed—her face buried in her hands. The Eastern Air Temple was her home—she had not left the temple in more than a decade and never had an urge to do so. Despite her want for freedom she chose to stay where she felt safe—the temple gave her a sense of security she found difficult to part with.

As tears streamed down her cheeks and as her face turned red she wondered why. She wondered why this was happening to her. They couldn’t do this to her, they could not send her away. She had done nothing to deserve any of this. She did not want to leave. She wondered if she really had stunted her own training. No, she couldn’t have—or had she? Had she stopped performing her best so she would never have leave? She had not left the temple in years and it gave her a sense of security—safety—it made her feel like she belonged. The Eastern Air Temple was her home—no matter what the nuns said—this was it, not the Western Air Temple. Was it truly that bad that she wanted to stay, why wouldn’t they let her stay? It didn’t make sense and it wasn’t fair. Her slowed progression should not have warranted this. She may not learn as fast as she once did—but why didn’t she learn as fast as she used to? Was she lazy or had she unknowingly done it on purpose? Why—she didn’t know. The Air Nomads favoured detachment, but she did not want to let go of the temple. She just wanted to stay.

_I just want to stay._

The days past by and the time of her departure arrived. In the early morning hours when the bells rang, Vessa descended the stairs from her living quarters to the court yard. It was a lovely day with a cloudless sky with a slight breeze rustling the leaves on the surrounding trees. As she stepped onto the court yard she dropped her few belongings on the ground and whistled.

When she heard grunting coming from above, she looked up and saw a sky bison come flying towards her. It landed a few yards from her and walked to her. It bummed her gently with its muzzle and she petted it between its eyes.

“Today is the day,” she said, “and I don’t think we could have asked for a better day.”

She walked over to the storage room where they had the saddles for the sky bisons. She found the saddle belonging to her bison and dragged it out of the storage room. It was a big saddle made of light, but sturdy wood making it easier to drag and airbend. When she reached the sky bison Vessa airbended the saddle onto the bison’s back. She jumped onto it and began braiding the bison’s fur though the oval holes at the bottom of the saddle’s sides to secure it place. As she finished securing the saddle and reigns, one of her sisters—her best friend—and two nuns arrived at the court yard.

“Did you think you could leave without saying goodbye,” her sister said.

“Maybe,” Vessa said with a smile and jumped off the saddle. When she landed on the ground she walked towards her sister.

[Friendly conversation]

“It is time for you to leave,” one of the nuns said, interrupting their conversation.

Vessa and her sister looked at each other. It was an odd sensation not having your best friend around to talk to, no longer seeing each other on a daily basis. They had not been separated for this long since her friend went to the Northern Air Temple for the sky bison polo tournament. But it would be alright Vessa thought. Her friend would sooner than herself receive her arrows and begin her nomadic life. Perhaps their journeys would cross.

“Don’t do anything stupid and stay out of trouble,” her sister said.

“No promises,” Vessa replied with a slight smile.

Her sister pulled Vessa into a hug. It was tight—it was strong—as if she didn’t want Vessa to leave.

“You will be missed,” her sister whispered in her ears and almost choked on the words.

Vessa felt tears on her skin. She closed her eyes trying to stay strong and replied “you too” in a low voice.

They let go of each other, ending the hug. Her sister wiped away her tears and tried to smile at Vessa. One of the nuns had picked up her belongings and stood with them in her arms. She handed them to Vessa. Vessa looked at the nuns in turn. She wasn’t sure what she should say to them or if it was necessary for her to say anything at all. As she was about to open her mouth to speak, one of the nuns placed a hand on her shoulder.

“One day you will return, and until that day stay safe.”

Vessa gave the nun a slight nod. She felt as if she wanted to say something to the nuns, but had forgotten the words. With the last of her hesitation leaving—and her having come to terms with her departure—she walked to the sky bison and jumped in the saddle, securing the belongings she was bringing with her. She sat down on top of the bison’s head, gripped the reigns and looked back at her friend—still wiping away tears—for the last time in a long while.

“Yip yip.” The sky bison took to the sky and when they were at a distance from the temple Vessa looked back and a tear crawled from the corner of her eye.

As the temple disappeared her new life began. 

**Author's Note:**

> ‘After credit’ scene:
> 
> As the nuns looked at the sky bison disappear in the horizon one of them said, “She forgot to bring clothes didn’t she?”
> 
> “Yes, yes she did,” the other replied.
> 
> Both of them lowered their eyes from the sky to the court yard and saw a bundle of clothes lying on the tiles.


End file.
